Standing In
by robinyj
Summary: There’s a new evil in town that’s after the Slayer to be his sacrifice, but what happens when the Scoobies stand in its way? {Season 3}
1. The Wrath of Trogar

Title: Standing In

By Robinyj

Rated: PG 13, I rate almost everything that. It's a safe rating as I say.

Category/Warning: Let's see, Violence, H/C, Action/Adventure, Humor, a little bit of everything really. Setting: Somewhere in Season 3, anywhere really, it's all good. 

Summary: There's a new evil in town that's after the Slayer to be his sacrifice, but what happens when the Scoobies stand in the way?

A/N: I try to write as if this was an actual episode, so all the regular characters are in the story and they each have a role, but there's a nice amount of Oz h/c cause I can't find any stories that have that, and I crave it. So let's move on.

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"A little support is all I'm asking for here."

Willow looked to Oz for help but he just shrugged, effectively leaving the conversation in her capable hands.

 "Buffy, I know you're trying, but I just don't think that the feeding pattern of vampires is exactly a valid topic for your Biology paper," Willow confessed, being honest as always.

 Buffy huffed and kicked a rock on the sidewalk. She had a lot of schoolwork to catch up on because of the sudden increase in demonic activity in the last week, and this particular essay, worth twenty percent of her mark, was really bringing her down. Willow and Oz were walking with her as far as Willow's house and then she was going on patrol, as usual. She appreciated their company, because they easily could have just driven in Oz's van, but they really weren't helping with her school issues.

 "I just don't have time to learn about something new and do the research and everything," Buffy said, then turned to Oz. "What's your paper on?"

 "Mating habits of werewolves."

 He received blank stares from his companions.

 "Joking. I don't have one yet," Oz told her, not seeming to care.

 "Well thanks for jumping aboard the topicless train with me. It seems I bought a ticket to ride until the end of the semester though."

 The three walkers slowed as they reached Willow's house. It was getting late and the vamps would be coming out soon so Buffy had to be on her way.

 "Good luck on patrol," Willow called out. "Kill the bad, save the good, and make sure you eat supper."

 "Stay safe," was the solemn advice Oz offered as the couple watched her continue on her way.

 Buffy waved and yelled, "See you at school, hopefully with a Biology topic on something that is actually alive."

 As she walked away Oz and Willow strolled hand in hand up to the front steps of the Rosenburg home. 

 "I thought you were doing your paper on Bald Eagles or something," Willow questioned her boyfriend.

 "I am," Oz replied simply. "I didn't want Buffy to feel alone on that train of hers."

 "That's my man, always thinking of others." 

 "Nah, I'm mostly thinking of you," Oz said, making Willow blush but also making her smile widen significantly.

 "So, since we both got our topics do you want to come over tomorrow night and we'll work on them together," Willow suggested.

 "Actually, I'm already finished mine," Oz said, and was somewhat surprised Willow wasn't done hers.

 But Willow smiled and punched his arm, "And you say you have no ambition. I'm glad you're taking school more seriously."

 "You cause me to be strangely motivated," he replied, smirking. 

 They had all too quickly made their way to the front door and stopped on the step, "Ah, here we are, maison Rosenburg. My home, where I sleep and live and keep all that I own."

 "Thanks for the update. I should be getting home too," Oz said regretfully.

 Willow frowned, "You can come in you know."

 Oz shook his head, truly sorry, "No, your parents are home. We both know that it would end up being of the not cool."

 Willow wanted to argue but he was right. Though her parents didn't take the most active role in her life, they knew that Oz was a musician, and had somehow found out that he failed his senior year, and resolutely didn't approve of him dating their daughter. 

 "If they just got to know you …"

 "They still wouldn't change their minds." Seeing how much this statement saddened Willow, Oz quickly added, "But I will meet with them soon, have a long talk with them about how much I love you and respect you and will assure them that I will always take the best care of you. I'll even bring them a bunt cake."

 "What if that doesn't work?" Willow asked as their lips moved closer for a kiss.

 Oz smiled his quirky half smile, "Then I'll bring two. And a jello mould."

 "Ah, the power of jello. They won't be able to resist," Willow agreed as their lips met passionately. The kiss broke when they needed air and they pulled away to look deeply into each others' eyes. 

 "Jello mould it is then. Good night," Oz whispered, kissed her one last time, and then slowly backed away down the step, never breaking their eye contact.

 "Night, see you tomorrow." Willow said. She sighed as he disappeared down the walk and then, smiling, she finally went inside.

~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~

 Elsewhere, Buffy was definitely not feeling the same amount of love. She was in one of the many Sunnydale graveyards, ducking and dodging attacks while at the same time kicking and quipping with all her might. 

 "Wow, I hope you didn't pay for that facelift." She commented as a particularly ugly demon came in front of her. The creature was green and slimy, and its flesh was pulled tightly across its skull. In fact, its face looked as though its skin was trying to escape its mouth. After Buffy smelled its breath she could understand why.

 "Whoa, brush much? I suppose not with you having no teeth and all."

 The demon stopped for a moment, perplexed because it did in fact have a great mouth full of teeth. Then Buffy kicked him in the jaw and as he fell back against a tombstone he felt a number of them loosen. 

 "You're going to pay for that Slayer!" It announced, spitting out blood.

 "This is me trembling," Buffy suddenly backflipped and kicked another demon that had been sneaking up on her in the face. "And this is me kicking your ass. Note the similarities."

 As the last monster fell it dropped its weapon, a long sword, which the Slayer quickly picked up and impaled him with. Buffy smiled, she liked being armed and she liked how scared her assailants got when she was. The green demon on the ground was spitting out teeth and starting to rise so Buffy kicked him in the face again and then drove the sword through his chest. 

 There were two members left in her quarry and she faced them, lavishly twirling her blood stained sword.

 "Do you really want to try it? Cause I don't need the exercise and you guys seem to be enjoying having your heads attached to your body," Buffy said casually as she took a step closer. The demons, of course, took a step back, but then gathered their courage and charged. 

 Buffy easily side stepped and plunged her new weapon into the back of the first creature. It cried out in pain and then turned around to swing at her. She cut off its head.

 "I warned you," she murmured. When she turned around she found the second demon had also picked up a discarded sword and they exchanged parries for a few seconds.

 "Your form's good but your footwork sucks," Buffy commented as she easily found an opening and then stabbed the demon in the shoulder. Pushing hard, she forced the creature up against a tree and pinned it there by forcing the sword into the trunk. The demon yelled and foamed as Buffy wiped off her hands.

 The four demons were all different races but they each had the same strange armband around their wrists (black leather with a Greek-like symbol on the front) which led her to believe they were working for a larger power and she wanted to know who. It appeared to be interrogation time.

 "Okay scale-boy, so who is it that you're working for?" Buffy asked, a morbid smile on her face as she twisted the blade in the demon's shoulder.

 The creature didn't cry out, it just clenched its teeth and answered, "I'm not going to tell you anything Slayer. You'll have to kill me."

 "That's doable. But what's also really nifty is that I know a few people that could bring you back from the dead, so then I could kill you again. So, once more, who is your boss and what's his deal?" Buffy repeated twisting the weapon even more. 

 The pain laden creature let out a pitiful sound resembling a laugh and then squeaked out, "Why don't you ask him yourself?"

 Buffy felt a presence behind her and turned around, ready for attack, but the sight of the monster in front of her took her by surprise; it was nine feet tall and wide as a tree.

 _How did **that** sneak up on me? _Buffy thought to herself as she momentarily stood stunned by its size. The creature took the chance to lash out with its massive arm and backhand her hard across the face. Buffy flew through the air and landed on her back a few feet away. 

 Then the monster spoke, its voice was deep and hoarse, but it sounded intelligent, not like her usual 'kill slayer, be famous' kind of demons, "I am Trogar and I am here for you."

~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~

 "It's about time you got home."

 Willow jumped and dropped her house key. Twirling around, she saw her mother standing there, hands on her hips and not looking pleased. 

 "Oh, Mom, hey. What do you mean 'about time', it's only …" Willow looked at the clock on the wall, "Oh."

 _Quarter to twelve__, that's pretty late. And it's a school night._

 "Well, where have you been?" she asked.

 "I … I was at Buffy's helping her with her Biology paper," Willow stuttered, honestly surprised at the late hour. 

 "Unless there is something about Buffy that I don't know then I don't think it was her voice I heard on the step with you," her mother accused and Willow felt herself becoming angry.

 "Oz was with us, he takes Biology too you know. We left pretty early but we decided to walk since it was nice out and … I guess it took longer than I thought."

 Her mom shook her head, "Ever since you met that boy … I don't know who you are anymore Willow."

 Willow snorted in disbelief, "Did you ever know me Mom? When's the last time we talked to each other? Two weeks ago? Three?"

 "Just because I'm out of town a lot doesn't mean I don't care about what's happening in your life," she tried to defend herself, but they both knew it wasn't a strong argument. 

 "Since when have you cared? When I was all 'look I got another A and I'm captain of the nerd squad' you didn't even acknowledge me, and now that I'm actually starting to have a life and a boyfriend you finally start to get all parental," Willow accused, suddenly very glad Oz hadn't stuck around for this. "And let me tell you something, 'that boy', Oz, cares me for me than you ever have. Or will."

 Willow was breathing hard now and her mom just stared at her, dumbfounded. Willow shook her head, fighting tears.

 "I have to go to bed, I have school tomorrow."

 Her mom broke out of her trance and called to her as she retreated up the stairs but Willow did not turn around. She closed her door, shutting off the world, and went to bed. 

~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~

 Buffy winced as she got up, rubbed her back, and picked up her sword again. 

 "You're here for me eh? Well that's a surprise. So what's your sitch? You taking over the world? Gonna plunge the land into everlasting darkness? Or just give me a migraine?" she asked, no longer awed by the creature's size. 

 "I am here to sacrifice you to my all powerful master, who will then teach you a pain deeper than even I could ever dream," Trogar announced maliciously. He had a long, sloping forehead with eyes that reflected a cat-like yellow, and his body was devoid of hair. His massive arms were tight and corded with muscles and the only clothing he wore was a baggy pair of pants that seemed to be made of animal fur.

 "Just a quick question, what kind of animal was that before you made it into a pair of pants? Cause I got this Biology paper …" Buffy didn't finish her quip, instead she ducked under Trogar's arm as he went after her again. The slayer ducked low and then kicked the creature in the stomach and then moved out of reach again. 

 Trogar was thrown back slightly by her kicks but didn't seem very hurt. Buffy decided to take a chance. She rushed the creature, flipped over his arm as he moved to strike her and landed directly in front of him. Then, with all her might, she swiftly stabbed the demon in the chest with her sword, burying the weapon into his flesh, all the way to the hilt. 

 She stepped back and watched as Trogar screamed out in pain and stumbled backwards, clutching at his chest. He fell back against a tree and desperately tried to pull air into his lungs.

 "Guess you'll have to tell your master that I have other plans, but thank him for the nice invitation," Buffy said with fake sincerity as she watched the demon die. 

 Trogar smirked, pushed away from the tree and stood up, "You may tell him yourself," he bellowed and then reached up and pulled the sword out of his chest. Buffy cringed and took a step back as the gaping hole that the sword had caused in his upper body almost immediately closed in on itself and healed. 

 "Uh oh," Buffy exclaimed, not liking that the huge demon that was probably stronger than her and now had her weapon could also heal itself pretty easily.

 _Maybe it's research time_, Buffy thought, having no idea how to kill this thing. She looked him over for weak points but saw nothing; he had no jewels to smash or magical objects to steal, he was just big and strong. 

 Buffy wasn't giving up yet though. She had a feeling it probably couldn't regenerate its own head so focussed on ways of taking it off, but now she had no sword or anything useful to work with in the graveyard. 

 "Alright big and ugly, so you know a nifty little trick. Well, I have a few of those too," Buffy said, sounding confident. Trogar came at her and swung the sword for her neck; the Slayer jumped, landed on the demon's arm and then jumped again, kicking him hard in the face. 

 He barely stumbled. 

 She landed in a crouch and smiled as she found another sword from her earlier fight. She picked it up and called out, "You want me for a sacrifice, you gotta earn it, kind of like a merit badge." 

 Then she turned on her heel and sprinted towards the edges of the cemetery where the larger crypts stood. 

 "You cannot escape me Slayer, my master calls for a sacrifice and it shall be you!" Trogar yelled, seemingly enjoying the prospect of a chase. He took off after her, through the tombstones and trees. Buffy was faster and knew the area better so could have lost him easily but she wanted to get rid of this thing tonight. She sprinted ahead until she could see the end of the cemetery; this was one of the few in Sunnydale that was surrounded by a large iron fence. The crypt she was looking for was just ahead. She ran to the edge, used a grave for leverage and launched herself onto the roof of the ten foot structure. Then she quickly hid behind the marker on top and waited for her prey.

 Trogar was surprisingly silent for such a huge demon but she just barely made out the sound of his breathing as he came out of the woods. Buffy could see his shadow as he walked and watched it to determine his location. 

 "I'll find you Slayer and then my master will rise."

 His words didn't scare Buffy, in fact, the talking helped her figure out where he was, so she encouraged it. 

 "And when he rises the world will shudder, just as you will in time."

 _Blah blah blah_, Buffy thought, _just hurry up._

 "And you may watch from Hell as the world burns and … Ah!!!!" Trogar screamed in pain as Buffy executed her plan. She jumped off the roof of the crypt once he had passed her and sliced into his neck as she fell past. When she landed though, she already knew the plan had not worked. The sword was imbedded in Trogar's neck; she had sliced through the flesh and muscle easily enough but his spine was harder than she had thought it would be and she couldn't sever it. 

 The demon screamed in pain, but reached out once more and pulled the sword from his flesh. The wound closed as quickly and easily as the last one had. Buffy didn't know how to kill this thing, and now she had made it very mad.

 "You will pay for that Slayer, not only from my master but from me as well!" 

~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~

 Oz was in deep thought as he walked. Well, he was Oz, which meant he was usually in deep thought about something, but tonight he was in deep thought about Willow. She meant the world to him, and he wanted to make her happy. He personally didn't care what her parents, or anyone else, thought about him, but he knew that Willow cared what they thought, so he wanted them to like him for her sake. He just didn't know the right way to go about doing it. 

 Looking up, he saw the moon was only a sliver in the sky. He wouldn't be wolfing out for another three weeks, and the thought made him sigh with relief. It was not just the three wolf-moon nights that caused him anxiety, but the few days before were quite stressful for him as well. There was always that tiny bit of doubt that he had read the lunar calendar wrong and would be changing on a different night, though that had not happened yet. 

 As he reached Buffy's house he took out the keys to his van and continued contemplating the 'Willow's parents' issue. He started the van and decided to swing by the cemetery to see Buffy. She knew Willow's parents a lot better than he did and might know a way of getting on their good sides. 

He turned off the van as he reached the entrance to the graveyard and peered in. The iron fence was locked and he didn't see Buffy around. He knew better than to leave the van or walk around the graveyard without her, so he decided to just head home and ask her tomorrow. As he was about to start the van again he suddenly spotted movement and watched as Buffy sprinted out of the trees and then catapulted herself onto a crypt roof. 

 Intrigued, he decided to watch and was stunned to see a giant demon emerge from the treeline. Hell, he was even taller than some of the trees.

 _How is Buffy going to kill that? _He thought to himself, worried for her safety. But it seemed Buffy had a plan and he had to watch to see if it worked.

 It didn't though. The sword couldn't slice through the creature's neck, as hard as Buffy tried, and the wound it caused healed almost immediately. And Oz could tell by the look on her face that Buffy was now out of ideas. 

~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|

 _What is it that the Army calls it when you run away? A tactical retreat? I think it's tactical retreat time. Get Giles, do a little research, find out how to kill this thing, that's a good plan. _

"So that healing thing, must go over great at parties right? I bet all the chicks dig that." 

 Trogar was not amused and tried to hit her once more. Buffy was faster though and the tombstone behind her was demolished by his fist as she rolled out of the way. 

 "Okay, so not the chicks. What about this master of yours, what's he like? I mean plunging the world into darkness, he must have some ambition. Probably offers a great dental plan too." 

 Buffy rolled again and wondered how long she could dodge his blows. She was trying to get around him and make it to the fence but he could tell she was trying to escape and kept between her and her escape route. 

 "My master is a God; he has more than ambition, he has strength enough to tear your pitiful world apart." Trogar bellowed.

 "You know what I don't understand, you evil types always put down this world, we're weak, we're pitiful, we're mortal, we suck, so why are you always trying to take us over? Shouldn't we be beneath you or something?" Buffy asked as she went on the offensive and delivered several quick kicks and punches, then moved out of reach. 

 "We will better this world and make it a worthy land for my master to dwell in." 

 Trogar attacked doubly this time and Buffy couldn't avoid both blows. She was caught hard in the side of the head with a right hook and was further stunned when she crashed into a tombstone. Trogar stomped over to her as she attempted to rise. 

 "Now you will …" Trogar was interrupted by the cemetery gates crashing into him, knocking him down and pinning him momentarily. 

 Buffy looked up to see what had saved her.

 _A zebra?___

Oz's van was damaged but somehow still running. He flung open the side door and shouted for her, "Buffy come on!" 

 She didn't have to be told twice and quickly started to rise. 

 Trogar growled as he flung the gates away as if they were a blanket covering him. Oz had to buy time and turned on his high beams. It was a long shot, and he was fortunate they even worked, but luckily Trogar was a night creature and the sudden intensity of the headlights was enough to disorient him long enough for Buffy to make it into the passenger side of the van.

 "Let's go!" Buffy ordered and Oz gladly complied. Putting the van in reverse, he pulled away and charged down the road, thankful there was no oncoming traffic. Trogar was immediately behind them though and his hand scraped along the side of Oz's van before they were able to safely pull away and speed into the night. 

Trogar hissed, mad that he had lost his prey, but he would not give up. He had two more nights to find the Slayer, 'Buffy', and then his master would rise. 

 Taking a deep breath, Trogar closed his eyes and focussed. If one had been watching from nearby it would have been possible to see the shadow of the beast as it changed. There was a growl of pain that came from the cemetery but when it was finished there was no nine foot creature to be found anywhere; only a lone man, dressed casually in an overcoat and jeans, that walked away from the quarrel and into the night. 

TBC

I'll have more really soon. Xander, Cordelia and Giles are in the next chapter and there's lots more Oz, Willow and Buffy. Not to mention the origins of Trogar. I wouldn't miss the next chapter, but first tell me what you think of this one. 

Also, I'm looking for good Oz fics, so if you know of any you would recommend I'd love to hear about them. Many thanks, Robinyj.

Review? Please. They'll be bunt cake.


	2. Revelations Of The Good And The Not Good

Title: Standing In

By Robinyj

Rated: PG 13, I rate almost everything that. It's a safe rating as I say.

Category/Warning: Let's see, Violence, H/C, Action/Adventure, Humor, a little bit of everything really. 

Setting: Somewhere in Season 3, anywhere really, it's all good. 

Summary: There's a new evil in town that's after the Slayer to be his sacrifice, but what happens when the Scoobies stand in the way?

A/N: I try to write as if this was an actual episode, so all the regular characters are in the story and they each have a role, but there's a nice amount of Oz h/c cause I can't find any stories that have that, and I crave it. So let's move on.

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"Thanks Oz, I owe you one," Buffy said, sighing as she relaxed when they had lost sight of Trogar the Avenger.

 "Don't worry about it. So, who was your friend?"

 "Called himself Trogar; I never heard of him," Buffy replied.

 "That's original."

 "Yeah, I'll have to get Giles on it tomorrow. He said he has a master and unless this guy's just overhyping, he's bad news."

 "For you?"

 "For everyone. One of those "I'm taking over the planet" kind of people."

 "I hate those people." 

 "Same," Buffy agreed and then flinched as the sound of crunching metal came from the front of Oz's van. Oz seeming only intrigued by the sound, but he looked out his rear-view mirror and asked Buffy:

 "I don't really need a front bumper, do I?"

 "Only when bumping," Buffy said, honestly regretful that he had had to trash his van to help her. 

 "Well, I've already done that," Oz said, smiling. He honestly didn't care that much; the van was only for the band so if it got scrapped it was no big loss to him. In Oz's book, friends came over material possessions any day of the week.

 "Send me the bill for the damages okay? No way you're paying for saving my butt," Buffy said, meaning it fully.

 Oz brushed her off, "Don't worry, I got an uncle in car repair. He'll fix it up for nothing, has before."

 "Okay, but tell me if he charges you."

 "Do you want to head home or do you need to patrol some more?" Oz asked as he turned a random corner since he didn't know where she wanted to go.

 "Take me home, I've had more than enough patrol for one night." Buffy replied, sinking into the seat to relax.

 "Home it is."

 Another horrible sound of metal crunching wafted from the bottom of the van. Oz looked behind once more.

 "What about a muffler?"

~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~

 It didn't take long for them to reach Buffy's house despite the newest alterations done to Oz's van. 

 "Thanks for the lift, Oz. Drive safe," Buffy said as she exited the van and started up her driveway.

 "Not much of a choice really," Oz replied and then pulled away with a final wave. He started home and tried not to flinch at the horrible sounds his van was making. It sounded pretty banged up and he knew he wouldn't be driving it anywhere else once he got it home. He pulled into his house and went inside, not caring about the noise he made or the lateness of the night since his parents weren't home. 

 When he made it upstairs he phoned Willow; it was pretty late for him to call so he was only going to let it ring twice. If she was awake she always answered within two rings, and if she was asleep it wasn't enough to wake her, or her parents. She picked up mid-way through the second ring.

 "Hello?" She sounded tired and Oz wondered why she hadn't gone to sleep yet.

 "Hey, it's me."

 The sound of his voice perked her up and she sounded much more alive, "Hey Oz. Is something wrong?"

 "Kind of, but not to a life shattering degree. I just had to tell you that I can't pick you up tomorrow morning, my van's kind of in the not good," he explained. 

 Willow was immediately worried, "Are you all right? Were you in an accident? Did you get the license plate of the jerk?"

 Oz smiled, loving her concern, "No, it's nothing like that. It was actually a somewhat intentional smashing. Buffy was fighting some massive demon so I figured the mighty power of my van might be more helpful than the mighty power of just me."

 "Oh, you're mighty. You're very mighty. Is Buffy okay?"

 "Yeah, she's cool. I took her home and everything."

 "Well that's good. So, are we going to need a research party on this new guy?" Willow asked, always eager to help.

 "Buffy seems to think so. Been a while since we had a party with the research, might be fun," Oz joked. 

 "You never know."

 "It's late, I should let you go. Are you sure you can get to school okay?" Oz asked, willing to drive his tormented vehicle for her.

 "Yeah, I'll be fine. I can take the bus. It's been awhile since I've seen any of my old bus buddies." Willow said cheerfully.

 "Cool, I'll see you tomorrow then."

 "Yep. Good night. Love you."

 "Love you too," Oz agreed and they both hung up.

~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~

 The next day at school passed quickly. The gang learned, they ate lunch, they learned some more and then they met in the library for research. Everyone was there, Xander, Cordy, Oz, Willow, Buffy and Giles, and there was enough donuts and coffee for all.

 "So Buffy, tell us about our latest Villain of the Week," Xander requested as he took a lovely looking powdered donut from the box. 

 "Not too much to tell. He was ugly, tall, strong, had a wicked healing power and his 'master' is apparently going to rise after he sacrifices me to him," Buffy informed them.

 "Sacrifice? As in …" Cordy didn't finish her question but Buffy filled in the blanks.

 "As in filet du Buffy, yeah."

 "Ew. And could his timing be any worse? I mean, a week before the dance? How rude can you get?" Cordy exclaimed.

 "Not thinking this guy cares too much about Buffy's social life, Cord." Xander remarked, but Cordelia just shrugged.

 "I don't think anyone's too interested in my current social life," Buffy mumbled.

 "I thought you said this guy had a name," Oz reminded her from his position beside Willow at the table. "Trojan or something."

 "Yeah, he called himself _Trogar_," she said in a bad imitation of a deep bellowing voice. "Oh, and I brought clues." She pulled out one of the armbands the first few demons had been wearing and threw it on the table for all to see.

 "All right, clues. This is just like Law and Order," Xander said.

 "Or, you know, Clue," Willow added. 

 "I don't see Colonel Mustard anywhere," Xander defended himself. 

 Giles picked up the armband and inspected it, immediately recognizing the symbol, "It's the sign of Gashrek."

 "Oh, Gashrek. That helps," Xander said, sarcastic as always.

 "Details Giles," Buffy urged him on.

 "Oh yes. He was a powerful demon banished to the Fourth Layer of Hell several hundred years ago if memory recalls. It was the Wiccan group of four that banished him; they were very powerful in their day. I believe he was known as a destroyer of souls; he could find people's worst fears and exploit them so badly that the person went mad and willingly gave up their soul. That is of course, if he didn't decide to just eat them."

 "Eat them?" Buffy exclaimed.

 "Well, he was a large demon, about twenty feet tall, five feet wide. He could devour just about anything really."

 "House shopping must have been Hell," Buffy commented. 

 "Not to mention clothes," Cordelia added.

 "Yes, but the question is how does this Trogar intend to sacrifice Buffy in order to resurrect Gashrak from hell." Giles pondered aloud.

 "I'm guessing this is where the research comes in," Oz pointed out.

 "Doesn't it always?" Xander agreed, getting up to get the first batch of research books.

 "Gashrak!" Willow exclaimed, coming out of a deep state of thought.

 Xander patted her shoulder, "Yes Willow, Gashrak. We've covered this. Where have you been the last ten minutes?"

 "No, I … I already read something about him. Before, when we were researching something else a few weeks ago. I'll try to go find it," she said, getting up and going into Giles's back room.

 "All right. Way to go Willow memory. So this means no research?" Xander asked hopefully.

 Willow came back out with two books, "It's either in here, or it's in this one." She said, handing the second book to Xander.

 "Wasn't I just rejoicing at lack of research?" he immediately complained. Buffy took the book from him and began flipping through it herself.

 "Well, this is great. You all seem to have everything in hand, so I'm out of here," Cordelia said, taking her purse and starting to leave.

 "Where are you off to?" Giles asked, more curious than sad to see her leave.

 "I've got a hair appointment. You would think this look just makes itself, but sadly I do have outside resources," she said and then strutted out.

 "So Willow, why is it that you remember reading about this Gashrak guy?" Buffy asked as she flipped through her book. "Usually when we research I like to forget about what I read … or see. Yuck." Buffy quickly flipped the page again.

 "Because he was neat. Well, not him exactly, his followers were, like this Trogar guy," Willow said enthusiastically and then smiled at Oz who was reading over her shoulder. 

 "Not when I met him," Buffy noted.

 "Well, he wasn't like 'Hey I'd like to meet that guy neat', he was more 'hey, he has cool powers' kind of neat," Willow explained.

 "Like X-Men cool powers?" Xander asked, finally enjoying the conversation.

 "Kind of, he …" Willow was interrupted by Oz stopping her hand from switching pages.

 "He's right there," Oz pointed out in the book. Everyone looked for a moment and then Giles took it from them and began to read aloud.

 "Gashrak, ancient demon of the underworld banished to Hell in 1199 by the Wiccan Group of Four. His followers include the Onrak, powerful demons that are capable of changing into any human-like form."

 "Whoa, shapeshifters?" Buffy asked, feeling very uncomfortable. "As in, being anyone at anytime and no way of knowing any different?"

 "It would seem," Giles agreed.

 "So, he could be any one of us," Oz said casually then saw the frightened look on everyone's face as they looked around, "But, you know, it's not likely."

 "I'd rather not take any chances. Is there some sort of shapeshifter test? You guess their name and they have to show you their true form or give you three wishes and a pot of gold or something?" Xander asked, remembering several comic book and Star Trek deviations of the tale.

 "No, that's leprechauns, which actually do exist. It's an interesting story really … but, not appropriate right now. Anyway, the Onrak would have no way of knowing the personal details of the life of whomever it is they're impersonating, so one could easily ask it simple questions about that person to determine if they are real," Giles offered, trying to comfort his protégés. 

 Buffy looked at the picture in the book and pointed out, "But this is what he looked like last night, so where's the change happening here?"

 "Yes, this would appear to be his true form, according to this text and most likely his strongest. Therefore it would be the best in which to use to fight you," Giles said.

 "What about the whole sacrificing Buffy thing, cause I wasn't really down with that," Oz piped in.

 "Second that," Buffy agreed.

 "Oh, third," Willow added.

 Giles continued reading and seemed to find the answer, "According to this it is possible to raise Gashrak from Hell, once every four hundred years. All that is needed is the proper spells, incantations, a few mystical objects and oh, this would appear to pertain to Buffy."

 "Let me guess, the blood of a Slayer. There's a new one," Buffy complained, wondering why she was always singled out. _Chosen one, duh.___

"Not specifically actually, it says only that a 'pure and powerful blood sacrifice is necessary'. It is the power and purity of the sacrifice that negates the Wiccans' spell and allows Gashrak to rise once more. It seems, Buffy, that you are merely the sacrifice that this Trogar has chosen but not the only possibility, I would imagine," Giles explained.

 "Well, lucky me," Buffy said unenthusiastically.

 "When exactly is the four hundred year mark for this ritual?" Willow asked. "Cause if we can keep Buffy safe until after the date then we've pretty much stopped him without doing any work, right?"

 "I like this plan," Xander agreed, finishing off another donut. "It's safe, offers a nice comfort zone in which to work. It's way better than attacking with humus, no offence man."

 "None taken," Oz assured him.

 "Um, let me see. The ceremony may take place after sunset on the fourth day of the fourth month," Giles read.

 "That's tomorrow," Oz said. 

 "It would seem."

 "You know I'm seeing a definite pattern here. I don't think that Wiccan group had a lot of originality, cause they did everything in fours." Xander complained.

 "Well, it was their trademark," Giles said.

 "So, I stay away from this thing for two more days and there's no sacrifice. Yippee. But what if I do meet up with it again? How do I kill it, cause it really didn't feel like going down last time?" Buffy asked, very curious about the answer to this one.

 "Its shapeshifting abilities make it able to heal very quickly as you can imagine, and the only real weakness it has is to fire. If you can find a way to ignite it all at once then it cannot possibly heal while still burning and will eventually die. You had the right idea the other night as well; cutting of its head would work, but you would clearly need something stronger," Giles offered and Buffy nodded, happy to have somewhat of a plan at least.

 "Okay, fire good in this case, I'll remember that. That really covers pretty much everything, so I guess we're done. Time for fun," Buffy smiled and led the way out of the library, followed by Oz, Willow and Xander.

 Giles made a last attempt to stop them, or at least Buffy, "Buffy, you really should try to get some training in and some more research on this matter wouldn't hurt either."

 "Giles, I've trained, I'm fit, I'm ready, I'll run the race and make you and mom very proud," Buffy said, exasperated and not sure she was even possible of getting in better shape. "But tonight is just calling out for fun."

 "And we've researched, we've learned, now we party, or at least salsa," Xander added.

 "Oh, movie night," Willow suggested and received nods all around.

 "You research more, call us if you find anything," Buffy called out and the group disappeared from the library.

~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~

 "Who let Xander pick the movie and why did we all agree?" Buffy asked as she popped the tape out of her VCR.

 "Because you trust my judgment to pick a kick ass movie, which I did," Xander replied while munching the last of the popcorn.

 "If by kick ass you mean I want to kick your ass for picking it, then nice job," Buffy said, taking his bowl.

 "It wasn't that bad. It was kind of corny and okay, the killer suddenly growing wings was a little off the wall but … I'm sorry Xander, that movie was bad," Willow said apologetically.

 "Oz, a little help here," Xander pleaded.

 "I have the right to remain silent," Oz said stoically, giving no hints to liking or disliking.

 "And he invokes it all the time," Buffy commented.

 "Gotta love that constitution," Oz smirked as Willow settled against him for the next feature film. It was time for her pick.

 "Buffy, don't you have to patrol tonight?" Willow asked, looking at the clock and seeing it was prime slay hour.

 "No way. Giles said to stay away from the big bad so it can't sacrifice me and I intend to. Besides, I checked the obits, there's no fresh graves to stake out so I pretty much got the night off," Buffy smiled.

 "Well fun. Okay, movie now. Yeah!" Willow exclaimed as it started.

 Behind her, Oz asked, "So, which one of these guys is Monty Python?"

 "It's not just one guy, it's the whole group. They're all Monty Python," Willow explained.

 "Gotcha."

 The four quieted down and watched the movie in silence, laughing occasionally during the funny parts and looking confused at the meant to be funny parts. None of them knew that a few miles away Trogar was lurking again, looking for the Slayer. He stayed out all night, prowling the places she was known to be, but he didn't find her. Eventually he realized he would have to do a more aggressive search if he wanted his sacrifice in time for tomorrow night. 

 As the sun rose and Sunnydale citizens awoke for a new day another lone figure left the graveyard after changing into human form. This time the stranger was a young man, looking barely over sixteen. He had a bookbag, sneakers and sunglasses, and smiled as he prepared for his first and last day as a student at Sunnydale High.

~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~

 "So you had no run-ins with Trogar, or any other unsavoury characters last night?" Giles asked the next day at school.

 Buffy nodded, "Nope, Trogar was definitely not in my television. Although there was a strangely deadly white rabbit that I was considering taking on."

 "You didn't patrol last night?" Giles exclaimed.

 "You said stay away from Trogar, I effectively stayed away from Trogar. Look, he hasn't got me so he has no sacrifice and we have no Gas demon trying to eat our souls or the rest of us, I think it's all going nicely myself." Buffy meant that too, she wasn't just saying that because she felt like being normal with her friends last night instead of patrolling. Nope, not for that reason at all. 

 "If you recall, I did not agree to the plan of just letting the ritual deadline pass without meeting with this Trogar. It is dangerous and he may be after you, but we still cannot allow this demon to wander around freely. You'll have to stop him eventually," Giles told her quite seriously.

 "I know, but after the ritual _deadline _seems to give me a much greater chance of not being, you know, dead," Buffy stated matter of factly, without fear or hesitation. 

 "Perhaps you're right," Giles was forced to admit. 

 "Anyway, I gotta split. English class. See you after school," Buffy yelled and raced down the hallway.

 Xander and Cordelia walked down the hall contently. They were both in a good mood today and they were getting along well since Xander was yet to bring up anything geeky and Cordelia had yet to bring up anything fashion related, but who knew how long this would last.

 "What color did you say your dress for the dance was?" Xander asked suddenly.

 Cordy looked at him suspiciously and replied slowly, "Red, like rose red. Picture the Little Mermaid's hair, hey, since when do you care?"

 "Well, I was going to make sure your corsage matches your dress. I know you like when you have all your fine details planned out like that," Xander replied, trying not to make a big deal out of it, but Cordy smiled brightly and even hugged his arm. "Whoa, public affection from Cordelia. I could get used to this."

 "Keep doing what you're doing and you will. I like when you care about what I care about, it's good to know you're trying and actually listening when I talk," Cordy said, sounding oddly sincere and thankful.

 Xander was just as respectful when he replied, "I always listen, it's just sometimes I'm talking at the same time too, it gets hard."

 Before Cordelia could reply the couple was interrupted by someone clearing their throat very loudly. There was a student standing in front of them, looking at them as if waiting for them to break apart so he could talk to one of them. 

 "Excuse me, interrupt much?" Cordelia asked indignantly. 

 "Sorry, I'm looking for Buffy, do you know where she is?" the strange kid asked. Xander looked him over, positive he had never seen him before.

 "Who wants to know?" Xander asked.

 The kid didn't miss a beat, "I'm Tony, I'm her lab partner. Have you seen her around? I really need to talk to her."

 Now Xander _knew_ something was definitely wrong, especially since _he_ was Buffy's lab partner.

 "What about?" Xander prodded, attempting to be casual.

 Tony smiled like he knew something Xander didn't, "It's personal."

 Cordelia started to answer the kid, just wanting to get rid of him, "What is it, fifth period now? I think she has …"

 "Been home sick for the last few days. We haven't seen her." Xander finished for her, never breaking eye contact with 'Tony'. He looked very normal, with a face that could get lost in the crowd, but Xander was still positive he had never met him before. Xander's spider sense was tingling and he decided to test this kid, as Giles had suggested.

 "You're sure you haven't seen her," Tony pushed, taking a step closer to the couple. His eyes lowered and the boy that was annoying moments ago suddenly became threatening. "Cause I _really_ need to talk to her."

 "You could ask her Chemistry teacher, Mr. Carroll, he might be able to help you," Xander added, then took a step back and waited for a response.

 "I'll do that," Tony smiled, shifting back into normal guy. He left the couple and then turned into a classroom, not hesitating or questioning Xander in any way.

  Xander watched him go closely, gauging his response, and then took Cordy's arm, who was furious at being pulled along and interrupted, and turned around down the hall. "Come on, let's go."

 "What is your childhood trauma?" Cordy asked when they were around the corner and out of earshot of the creepy kid. 

 "Huh? Oh, you missed the research fun last night. There's a new big bad after Buffy and I think that may have just been it," Xander explained, looking around trying to spot the guy again.

 "That kid is a big bad demon?" Cordelia asked, sceptical.

 "Not him, but his possible alter ego of Trogar definitely is. I can't be sure but it's better safe than sorry. Come on, let's go find Giles and Buffy, they tell it better, and don't say anything else. This guy's a shapeshifter, he could become anyone," Xander added as they headed towards the library. He had lost sight of 'Tony' after they left him and he couldn't find him again.

 "Even me? Whoa, imagine the possibilities. This town couldn't take that much unbridled fashion sense," Cordy pointed out as she didn't try very hard to catch up.

~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|

 An hour later the gang was back in the library. School was out and the halls were clearing of students, but the Scooby Gang had more research to do and things to discuss.

 Oz came out from behind the bookshelves, having finished searching the room for anyone spying or watching, "It's all clear. There's no one in here and I don't think anyone can listen from the doors and windows."

Xander had been pondering over Trogar's shapeshifting ability all day and asked, "Hey, what if this guy can become like a fly or a mouse and just sneak in and listen to us?"

 Oz eyed a fly on the table warily and as it flew away he crushed it in mid-flight, "Well, if he can then I just solved all our problems." 

Giles brushed off the idea, "That is highly unlikely. All the texts I've read so far have indicated that he is capable of human-like transformations only. Of course, if I had had some help with the research last night than I may have been a bit more successful."

 "If it makes you feel better, we were watching classic English comedies and thinking about you the whole time," Willow offered in explanation for their absence. 

 "Thank you, but it doesn't. So, you believe this student was Trogar in human form?" Giles asked Xander for clarification about his encounter. 

 "I get that impression. I mean, I've never seen the guy before and he just pops up out of nowhere, being very pushy about finding Buffy and saying he's her lab partner," Xander said, putting all the facts on the table.

 "But you're my lab partner."

 "Exactly. And then I told him to check with Mr. Carroll about where you were, and he's like, 'I'll do that' but we don't have a teacher named Mr. Carroll. I tricked him, do you get it? I was being clever," Xander gloated, proud of his deductive skills. They mostly just nodded in reply, now deep in thought.

 "Well Buffy, since clearly this Trogar has taken a more active role in finding you, I suggest you not go home tonight. You should stay at Willow's or even my apartment until we are sure the time of the sacrifice has passed," Giles said as a plan of action. "There's no need to take any unnecessary risks."

 Buffy nodded, understanding, "That can work. Mom's out of town so if he does find out where I live he'll just get an empty house. But I'm starting to be not cool about all this running away, seems a tad cowardly, almost Xanderish."

 "Hey!" Xander exclaimed, but didn't truly resent the comment. Running worked sometimes.

 "I know what you mean but it's only until after tonight, then we may smote this Trogar in any way you like," Giles consoled her.

 "Smote? When have I ever smote anything?" Buffy asked.

 "Perhaps you should start," Giles replied lamely in his own defence. 

 "So is hiding our plan cause I have places to go," Cordelia exclaimed, sounding bored.

 "Go Cordelia, I'm sure we'll manage without you," Giles sighed. 

 Cordy smiled and tugged Xander's arm, "Come on Xander, I still haven't got shoes for my dress. You can help."

 Xander looked back at the group, not really wanting to go, but also not really wanting to stay for more research. Giles waved him off, assuring him it was all right to leave.

 "Looks like we're down to a happy little quartet," Buffy observed once they were gone. 

 "Maybe we should be less happy, more worried and sombre," Willow suggested, still worried about Buffy, despite their sketchy plan.

 "We could be both," Oz suggested, "Or all three as the case may be."

 "Actually, I have several texts at my apartment I would like to go through. Not to mention that I'm waiting for a call from the Council regarding Trogar, so I'm afraid I must be going as well," Giles said regrettably. 

 "I'll come with and help with the research I guess, since I won't be kicking any shapeshifting butt anytime soon," Buffy said, following Giles as he gathered his belongings.

 "Oz and I can stay here and watch over the library and finish up the research you were doing," Willow volunteered. 

 "That would be splendid. There are a few students with books due back that may come sometime after school. The texts I needed to go through are on the desk in my office, I've tagged them with post-it notes. The blue ones I've gone through and the yellow ones I haven't," Giles explained as he headed closer and closer to the doorway. And then he and Buffy were gone leaving the lone couple with the books and research.

 "A simple yet efficient system," Oz commented as they looked over the pile of books and post-its. "I was expecting something more …"

 "Complicated? British?" Willow supplied, but Oz shook his head.

 "Giles-like. Something like, alphabetical order, in Ancient Sand script maybe. Like there would order, but Giles order."

 "Also called chaos," Willow added and Oz smiled. 

 "I guess. How's your Latin?" he asked, picking up the first book.

 "Nonexistent. Yours?"

 "Same. Guess we'll be skipping this one then," he said, putting the book back in the unread section.  

 Willow picked up another heavy looking book, "You know, sadly, this is exactly how I now picture spending my Friday nights."

 "Me too. It's great isn't it?" Oz said, his lips showing one of his bare smiles.

 Willow huffed as she opened her book, "What's great about research?"

 Oz came up behind her and kissed the top of her head, "I meant spending every Friday with you."

 "Oh, well, yeah, that's you know, fun and worth it," Willow stuttered, taken aback as she always was by Oz's compliments. 

 Oz smiled, loving seeing Willow flustered, and they both tried to focus on their books.

~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~

 Giles pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes, trying very hard to block out the infernal noise that plagued him while simultaneously not losing his temper. Several moments passed, but his headache increased and the sound wouldn't relent. The shrill, piercing echo pounded in his ears until he couldn't take it anymore. Finally he slammed his book shut and stood.

 "Buffy please, if you could just concentrate for a moment, or if that is too difficult, at least be quiet!" 

 Buffy's eyes widened and her lips stayed in the '0' shape they had assumed while she was whistling what she thought had been a perky tune. She smiled, bit her lip and put out her hands in defence, "Okay, sorry. Calm down, you're jumpier than Xander on a sugar high."

 "I'm not quite that bad," Giles defended, turning back to his text.

 "All right, Xander coming_ down_ off a sugar high then. Still equals quite jumpy," Buffy continued then went back to her doodling. She had a nice outline of a tree going and was starting to add some flowers. Oh, this wasn't boring at all.

 "I'm sorry, it's just, I need silence while I read."

 "I can do silence. You read ahead, I won't say another word," Buffy promised, holding up her hand in a boyscout's honor sign. Then she quickly dropped her head and went back to her doodling. Giles seemed satisfied with this and sighed as he found the page he had been reading. Content with the silence, he took a sip of his tea and then abruptly spilt it all over himself when Buffy suddenly spoke once more.

 "You know I've been thinking, you said that I was Trogar's sacrifice of choice, but I wasn't the only option. What if Trogar just goes for plan b and finds something else to be his sacrifice?" Buffy asked thoughtfully.

 Giles pondered it for a moment and then shook his head, "No, I don't think we need worry about that. The sacrificial requirement may have seemed vague but it is actually quite specific. A 'powerful, pure blood sacrifice' is quite rare. I can think of very few supernatural beings that fit the description."

 "What about vampires? Wouldn't they be a powerful blood sacrifice?" Buffy continued pressing the matter.

 "Obviously though they are not 'pure'," Giles pointed out.

 "Oh my god, what about Angel? He's got a soul, that would make him 'pure' right?" Buffy surmised, her voice suddenly sounding very worried. She was prepared to jump from the table to warn him but Giles held out a hand, indicating she should calm down.

 "No actually, he still possesses a demon within him, negating all pure qualities he may have. And even if it didn't, a vampire would not be considered a powerful _blood_ sacrifice," Giles explained.

 "Hello, they drink blood. It's kind of their thing," Buffy said, confused but relieved.

 "My point exactly, because they drink others' blood they have little to none of their own and therefore their blood itself holds no real power. It is the demon within the vampire that has replaced the victim's soul that gives it its power, not the blood that it consumes," Giles said matter-of-factly as he flipped through his book. 

 "Well, that's good I guess," Buffy replied, and went back to her doodle. _Maybe I could add a cat._

~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|

 Willow had given up on the ancient texts in Giles' office, hating how dusty they were and annoyed that she couldn't read half of them. Oz was still in there, doing his best to go through them, but Willow preferred the new fashioned way of researching - the internet. 

 Two students had returned late books in the two hours she had been there so she didn't pay much attention when she heard the door opening, admitting her third visitor of the afternoon. She didn't look up as he approached, having just found a very interesting website, and instead simply asked:

 "How late are they?"

 A confused, older man's voice replied, "How late are what?"

 Willow looked up, embarrassed. It was not a student that had entered but a man looking to be about forty with a semi-formal suit on.

 "Oh, well, I was … I meant library books, but clearly you don't have any, since, hey, probably graduated," Willow stuttered as she usually did. "So what can I do for you?"

 The man smiled and reached into his breast pocket and then pulled out a wallet and badge, "My name's Lieutenant Barkins, I'm with the Sunnydale Police Department, I'm looking for Buffy Summers."

 "Buffy! What did Buffy do? Buffy didn't do anything," Willow exclaimed, shocked and protective.

 "Relax miss. I'm investigating some vandalism that occurred at the Graveyard near Florence Street. The big gate at the opening was completely smashed and a witness puts Miss Summers at the scene. I just need to ask her a few questions," Lieutenant Barkins explained. 

 Willow remembered Oz mentioning he had put his van through the cemetery gates to help Buffy. It had never occurred to her that there might be a police investigation involved.

 "Buffy's not here," Willow said. "I'll doubt she'll come in again tonight."

 "I really need to find her, do you know where she might be?" the lieutenant continued, sounding casual enough, but Willow thought she detected a slight hint of nervousness.

 "Her house seems a good start," Willow said, knowing enough not to give up Buffy's location at the moment.

 "I've been, there was no answer."

 Willow shrugged and exuded an air of ignorance, "I have no clue then. She'll be at school on Monday though, you can come back then."

 "I really need to find her _tonight_," Lieutenant Barkins emphasized, his voice hinting with desperation. Willow finally started to get the wiggins and felt there was something wrong here.

 "Well, I don't know where she is … so maybe you should just leave," Willow requested, trying not to sound anxious.

 Just then Oz emerged from the backroom, book in hand, "Hey Will, I found a … a … great website you should check out." He said, quickly backtracking before he blurted out anything about spells and demons in front of their guest. 

 "Great. I'll do that then. Now. So … bye." Willow said quite blatantly to the cop, hoping he got the hint and left, but Lieutenant Barkins's eyes were now clearly fixed on Oz.

 The musician closed his book and placed it on the counter, then took an uncomfortable step back as the policeman moved a step closer to him. Barkins then moved even closer, still looking Oz over closely.

 "What?" Oz asked, thinking this wasn't cool.

 "What are you?" Barkins whispered, sounding honestly perplexed.

 "I'm Oz. It gets a little complicated after that," Oz replied uneasily. Something wasn't right with this guy, something didn't … smell right. 

 The eyes of both Barkins and Oz widened at the same moment as they came to different realizations.

 _Trogar_, Oz thought to himself.

 "Werewolf," Trogar whispered, sounding very pleased.

~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~

 Oh, the plot is unravelling, it's so exciting! I hope you like the fic so far. I'll have more in a little bit. Please review if you want more, and tell me if you're an Oz fan, I'm starting to feel like I'm one of the only ones left. I'm like the whooping crane or the panda bear, it's kind of exciting.

Thanks to Templa Otmena, AineRosa, wiseoldman, Silver Mirror, and The Red Cheese is Wax for reviewing the last chapter. It was much appreciated.


	3. Not How You Wanna Spend a Friday Night

Title: Standing In

By Robinyj

Rated: PG 13, I rate almost everything that. It's a safe rating as I say.

Category/Warning: Let's see, Violence, H/C, Action/Adventure, Humor, a little bit of everything really. 

Setting: Somewhere in Season 3, anywhere really, it's all good. 

Summary: There's a new evil in town that's after the Slayer to be his sacrifice, but what happens when the Scoobies stand in the way?

A/N: I try to write as if this was an actual episode, so all the regular characters are in the story and they each have a role, but there's a nice amount of Oz h/c cause I can't find any stories that have that, and I crave it. So let's move on.

Giles cleaned his glasses as he began to think aloud, "In fact, other than a Slayer, the only other being I can think of that even comes close to fitting the description is …"

 Giles trailed off suddenly and his eyes widened in terrified realization, which definitely gave Buffy the 'no feeling'.

 "Giles, what is it?" Buffy asked, terrified by his lack of speech.

 "Oh my, I am quite naïve," Giles tormented himself immediately as the horrible pieces fell into place. 

 "Tell me," Buffy pleaded.

 "A powerful, pure blood sacrifice; how bloody obvious," Giles continued, oblivious to her demands.

 "Giles, what?!" Buffy demanded.

 Giles removed his glasses and met Buffy's eye, "A werewolf. It fits the definition."

 "Oz." 

 Without another word Buffy bolted out of the apartment and sprinted back towards the school. Giles rushed to the phone and dialled the library's number and was disheartened to receive a busy signal, meaning the line was in use, or off the hook. 

 "Damn it," Giles swore as he slammed down the receiver. He considered his options; he could go to the school to aid Buffy if necessary, but if Trogar had attacked then they were most likely too late. Or he could stay where he was and do further research on the sacrificial ceremony, which may eventually prove vital. He weighed his options and then decided he couldn't risk staying here and doing nothing.

 Grabbing the books he needed, Giles left his apartment and hurried to his car. Slamming his foot on the gas, he pushed his car to Sunnydale High as fast as the engine could go.

~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~

Willow turned in shock as 'Barkins' calmly pointed out Oz's lycanthropy. Still behind the desk, she realized that they were probably in trouble, and Oz realized the same thing. 

 "How interesting," Trogar said jovially, still in the form of the police officer, then his eyes glowed an eerie yellow as he smiled.

 Oz didn't let him get out another word; he grabbed the heavy text he had put on the counter and smashed it into the side of Trogar's head, trying to stun or slow him down. The demon stumbled more in surprise than pain.

 "Willow, run!" Oz shouted as he moved to strike the shapeshifter again, hopefully before he could recover. Willow didn't argue and began to make her way around the counter. Trogar recovered faster than Oz could move and caught the musician's wrist as he started to bring the book down once more.

 "You know you're a bit small for a werewolf, but you seem to make up for it in spirit," Trogar taunted as his grip tightened on Oz's wrist until he yelled out in pain and dropped the book. Then the monster viciously backhanded him across the face and sent him flying across the room until he lay sprawled on the floor.

 "Oz!" Willow shouted in shock and started to run to him but Trogar caught her before she reached his side. Grabbing her by the hair as she ran past, Trogar brought them face to face.

 "Be a dear will you, tell the Slayer I won't be needing her after all," Trogar smiled as Willow fought to escape, and even resorted to biting him, but he simply threw her back against the wall, not caring. She hit hard and a book on the shelf above her came loose and struck her on the head, knocking her out. She crumpled to the floor.

 Trogar didn't spare her a second glance, he instead focussed on Oz, who was across the room trying to stand. Seeing Willow unconscious he immediately started towards her, but his attacker had other plans. He swiftly wrapped his hand around Oz's throat, stopping him and cutting off his air at the same time.

 "You humans continue to amaze me with your lack of self preservation," Trogar commented as Oz fought and kicked, desperate for air. Leaning forward, the shapershifter's next words almost sounded like a warning, "You should really be more worried about yourself." 

 Oz didn't hear him though, his thoughts were focussed on freeing himself from the deathgrip the Onrak had on him. As the last bit of oxygen in his lungs died away and he began to feel the edges of blackness creeping in, his eyes sought out Willow, and as his world faded to oblivion his only thought was that he hoped she was okay.

 For his part, Trogar watched passively as the werewolf finally succumbed to unconsciousness and his eyes rolled into the back of his head. Whistling happily to himself, the shapeshifter hefted Oz onto his shoulders and then left the library, after walking through the empty halls of the school he emerged into the darkening daylight with his prize in tow.

 "And when Gashrak rises, the world shall tremble, now that we have our sacrifice."

 Then, without a sound, Trogar and his victim disappeared into the darkness to prepare for the big night ahead.

~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~

 "Oz! Willow!" Buffy began shouting even before she reached the library doors. It had grown late and she had been forced to break a few locks to make it this far into the school but now she finally reached her destination.

 Without slowing down the sprint she had maintained all the way from Giles's, she burst into the library. Her heart sunk as she surveyed the scene. There were books scattered around the floor, a few chairs were turned over and Willow and Oz were nowhere in sight. There had been a fight here – a short fight.

 "Oh no," Buffy sighed as she slowly walked through the room, knowing she had been too late; Trogar had come for her and her friends had paid the price. She turned suddenly as she heard a moan from behind the counter. Rushing around, she saw Willow on the floor, apparently just regaining consciousness.

 "Willow!" she cried as she rushed over to her and helped her to sit up. "Take it easy."

 "Buffy?" Willow asked, obviously very dazed.

 "Yeah, it's me."

 "Not dream-Buffy?" 

 "No, reality-Buffy. I wish this was a dream though," Buffy commented as she inspected the large bump on Willow's head.

 Willow nodded in agreement and then her eyes widened as she remembered what had happened, "Oz! Buffy, Trogar was here, and Oz is gone, and Oz is with Trogar. He didn't want to go, but Trogar was so strong and we couldn't get away and ..."

 Buffy laid a hand on her shoulder, trying to calm her rambling, "I know Willow, it's okay. We'll get him back."

 "But we don't know where he is. He could be anywhere. What if we don't find him? What if …"

 "We will. I promise," Buffy told her, her voice as firm as she could make it. "Come on, let's take a look at that bump first."

 The two got up slowly and Buffy helped Willow into a chair at the middle table. With the better light above them Buffy looked over the darkening bruise running down Willow's forehead.

 "It's going to be bruised and sore, but I doubt you have a concussion. Can you see straight?" Buffy asked. Willow just nodded, her face still conveying her obvious concern.

 "We'll get to work on finding Oz as soon as Giles gets here. I'm going to call Xander and get Angel here for now, we'll probably need back up and more research," Buffy told her, sounding as supportive and uplifting as she could. But she wasn't feeling in too high of spirits herself. It had been her Trogar was after, Oz was clearly second choice, but since she had decided to hide instead of facing him, Oz had paid the price. Or was going to soon.

 Buffy reluctantly left Willow's side and placed the phone back on the hook, then dialled Xander's number. 

 "Hey Xand, we need you at the library ASAP. Yeah, it's an emergency; Trogar took Oz," Buffy explained, hating to have to repeat the horrible words, especially in front of Willow. Xander promised he'd be right over and said good-bye.

 "Xander's on his way."

 "Good, that's good," Willow replied slowly, then asked the burning question on her mind. "I don't understand something. Trogar … he … he came looking for you and I wouldn't tell him where you were and he was getting all pissy about it, but then he saw Oz and he got real happy and decided to take him instead and then he said he didn't need you anymore. So, is Oz bait or … something less fun?"

 Willow's voice had become quiet and scared during her question and Buffy sat beside her and placed a hand on her shoulder, "It's something else, something of the not good. Giles and I are pretty sure he's an eligible sacrifice for Trogar's ritual."

 "You mean, because he's a werewolf?" Willow asked. Buffy nodded.

 "Yeah. Giles didn't realize until I started asking questions. I guess, since he knew Trogar was after me he never thought anyone else could be in danger," Buffy continued, sounding regretful.

 Just then the doors of the library burst open for the second time and a winded Giles entered. He breathed a sigh of relief and nodded when he saw the two, "Willow, Buffy," then he looked around and noticed the disarray of the room. "Oz?"

 "Gone," Buffy supplied. 

 "Well then, we must move quickly," Giles said, moving towards the table and putting down the few books he had brought.

 "Obviously. So give me something to work with. The time of this ritual, where it takes place, everything." Buffy ordered, understandably eager to stop this thing.

 Giles took off his glasses and began to clean them, "I don't know for certain, I'm afraid."

 "You don't know!" Willow exclaimed, jumping up. "Well let's start knowing. We have to know. If we don't know, then we don't know, you know, and then we can't find Oz before this thing … does something to him."

 "Calm down Willow, it's all right. What do you know Giles?" Buffy asked, trying to intervene the outburst fest.

 "Well, we know the ritual must take place on the fourth day of the fourth month, but there is no specified hour or place in anything I have read," Giles told them.

 "So, ritual's tonight. We have to move fast. Come on Giles, there must be something else cause I don't think I have time to go beat it out of Willy," Buffy exclaimed.

 "There's nothing else I've found but a list of ingredients and spells necessary to perform the ceremony," Giles said, holding up the list.

 Willow got up from her chair, "Let me see."

 She took the list from him and looked it over. As her eyes scanned it they suddenly lit up as she reached the bottom, "Look at this, he needs telemus root."

 "I'm sure you made a point there, but I missed it," Buffy announced, though Giles seemed to have comprehended.

 "Telemus root, is uh, quite rare and very powerful. It emits a strong magical energy. It could be possible to trace through a kind of locator spell," Giles explained as he moved to the back of the library to look for the necessary text. Willow went into his office to see what she could find there.

 "All right, we have a plan to find Trogar. You guys work on that, I'm going to go get Angel, we'll most likely need help to take this guy down once we find him," Buffy said, leaving the library.

 Xander was coming in as she was leaving, but she didn't have time to chat, "Hey Xand. Go help Willow and Giles with research, I gotta go find Angel."

 Xander stood still for a moment, processing, as Buffy exited behind him, "And once again I am research guy. I'm not even good at research, why can't I just be witty repartee guy and leave it at that?"

 But as he entered the library, saw the concerned faces of Willow and Giles, and got the whole story on what was happening, he was sure not to complain as he gladly helped research.

~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|

 Buffy sprinted through the streets, knowing there was no time to waste; every minute that Oz was in Trogar's clutches was a minute too long and besides, they had no idea how much time they even had. It didn't take her long to make it to Angel's mansion, she knew the way like the back of her hand after all.

 She normally only came on personal business and she wished this was one of those times. Usually she would slowly meander to the door, peer in and watch Angel read or exercise for a few moments as she tried to suppress the strong feelings inside her and then make her presence known. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case tonight.

 Buffy ran through the door, not knocking or slowing down until she nearly ran into the vampire as he was throwing another log onto the fireplace.

 "Buffy, what's wrong?" Angel asked. It was obvious something bad had happened; she looked disshelved and almost frantic as opposed to the usual composed way she normally approached fighting evil. 

 "There's a new evil in town, he's called Trogar," Buffy replied, then paused for a breath.

 "The shapeshifter?"

 "That's the one. I need your help to take him down," Buffy said, knowing he would not hesitate at her request.

 "Sure, let me grab a few weapons," he requested and started to leave the room. Buffy grabbed his arm, tried to ignore the surge of emotions she felt, and turned him around.

 "There's no time. You can stock up when we get back to the library."

 Angel nodded, understanding that they had to hurry. They both began to sprint back to the school, but even at full run it was possible for the two to have a conversation.

 "Why do I get the feeling there's more going on here than stopping a demon?" Angel asked as they took a shortcut through the cemetery.

 "Because there is. Trogar's got a ceremony planned to raise his master from Hell. Nice guy by the name of Gashrak," Buffy explained.

 "I've heard of him, he's bad news. I've heard of this ceremony too; it involves some sort of sacrifice doesn't it?" Angel asked, knowing he was closing in on the heart of the matter.

 "Yeah, it does," Buffy said. She was about to continue when she saw movement to her left. Slowing to a stop she watched as a new vampire finished rising from the grave. "I so don't have time for this."

 Pulling out a stake, she ran at the creature just as it reached its feet. The vampire bared its fangs, trying to scare her, but Buffy would not be frightened. She kicked the vamp once under the chin, knocking it back onto its gravestone, then she quickly staked it, making it one of her fastest dustings in history.

 Angel came up behind her and quirked an eyebrow because she hadn't finished what she was going to tell him. Buffy looked at him and forced out the words she had been trying not to say because it made her so scared, "Trogar's got Oz. He's going to be the sacrifice and it was supposed to be me."

 "It's not your fault. I don't even know what happened, but it's not your fault." Angel looked at her sympathetically and continued confidently, "Then what are we waiting for? The apocalypse?"

 She smiled at him thankfully and then they ran the rest of the way back to the library.

~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~

 It was dark.

 Oz considered this for a moment as he tried to think back to what had happened and where he might be. Nothing immediately came to mind and he sat up, hoping to get a look at his new surroundings – his head had other ideas. 

 As he started to rise blood began pumping loudly in his ears and a stabbing pain shot from his spine, through his skull and behind his eyes. He released a gasp of pain as he laid his head back down and noticed the soreness of his throat and neck as well. Rubbing a hand over the bruised skin, he wondered again what had happened. He didn't remember going out with Buffy patrolling or anything like that where he may get hurt. In fact the last thing he remembered was being in the library with Willow.

 Willow!

 Thinking of her jogged his memory back to the last few hours. Trogar had come to the school disguised as a cop, and he had hurt Willow to get to him.

 "Will," he whispered worriedly as he slowly sat up. Oz could see very little. He was in a small room with the only light coming from underneath the door at the far wall which he guessed led to a hallway. There were no windows and little chance of escape since he was locked inside a cage about the size of the library cage and just as sturdy. Even in wolf form he wouldn't be able to get out. The only good thing about the entire situation was that Willow wasn't with him and he didn't smell her anywhere nearby.

 "Just be okay, Will," he thought to himself. He would be fine as long as she was okay. The last he had seen of her, she had been knocked to the ground, hopefully just unconscious.

 Oz stood and shook the cage bars, testing their strength, which was considerable. He tried to grip the bars again with his other hand and flinched; his wrist felt broken or at least sprained from where Trogar had grabbed him. His head also pounded and it hurt to swallow, let alone speak, after the demon had tried to strangle him.

 "But he didn't strangle me. He kept me alive. Why?" Oz pondered as he paced around his cage. It was clean but small. There was enough room to stand completely but only because he was considerably shorter than most people and it was a whopping eight by six feet in size. 

 Before he had a chance for a second stroll he heard footsteps approaching and soon after the handle on the door began to shake. Oz considered laying back down, feigning unconsciousness, but then realized that it probably wasn't a coincidence that someone was coming to see him minutes after he had woken up; they must have been watching him. For this reason he stood his ground and tried to act casual as he leaned against the bars of the cage and waited for his captors to enter.

 He expected a monster, the nine foot tall beast that had attacked Buffy at the cemetery, to come stomping through the door. Instead he was surprised to see the door swing open and a small figure on the other side poke in their head and smile.

 "Oz, thank god. We gotta get you out of here."

 "Buffy?" Oz choked on her name, half in surprise and half because of his aching vocal chords. The petite slayer stepped into the room, looking behind her and in the shadows for a surprise attack. Then she approached slowly and smiled encouragingly.

 "Yeah, in the flesh. Where are the keys?" she asked in a whisper as she looked over the lock to the cage.

 Oz shrugged having no clue; he hadn't even noticed the lock.

 "What are you doing here?" he asked, his voice raspy.

 "Saving your sorry butt, duh. Are you okay?"

 He nodded, still finding it painful to speak. 

 "Is Willow all right?" Oz asked, willing to speak if it meant hearing about her.

 "She's fine, nothing a few aspiring won't solve," Buffy replied.

 Oz breathed a sigh of relief and then leaned against the wall of the cage. Buffy stopped fiddling with the lock and then gave him an appraising look, as if sizing him up for something. With calculated movements she began pacing slowly around the cage, never taking her gaze off of Oz.

 "Let me ask you something - are you scared?" she asked suddenly, sounding intrigued.

 Oz watched her as she moved around him, confused, "What?"

 Buffy continued, now running her hand casually along the side of the cage, "Are you scared? Do you feel your heart pounding in your ears? Are your arms shaking from the adrenaline? Are your organs grinding together in your stomach like they're trying to escape?"

 Oz stopped following her movements when it became obvious that something was seriously wrong with this situation and glued his eyes straight ahead at the door in front of him.

 "Do you feel like you're going to die? … Would you mind?"

 "You're not Buffy," Oz stated firmly, trying to hide his disappointment and fear.

 "You're right, I'm not. I'm not anyone really, but then again, I'm also everyone. It's an interesting enigma, I haven't quite figured it out myself even and it's been thousands of years for me," Trogar paused, still in Buffy's form and seemed to notice Oz's discomfort. "I'm sorry, is this body making you uncomfortable? I've got so many more I could show you."

 Oz blinked and suddenly Willow was in front of him, as beautiful and innocent as she always was. 

 "Is this one better?"

He almost forgot to breathe when he saw her but then he shook his head and looked at her closer. Everything was perfect, from the clothes to the shimmering red hair, but there was no sparkle in her eye, no compassion in her smile. It wasn't his Willow.

 "Stop it!" he demanded, despising being tormented with deluded versions of the people that meant the most to him. 

 "But we're having so much fun," the fake Willow replied, twirling her hair through her fingers.

 "Why are you doing this?" Oz asked to distract him. "Buffy's not going to come here to get me just to let you sacrifice her to your beat down master."

 Trogar smiled and then shifted forms, seemingly becoming tired of his last one. Lieutenant Barkins now walked around the room, chuckling, "Surely ignorance can't always be bliss, you must have some clue as to why you're here. No? You see, I don't need the Slayer anymore my wolf. You'll do just fine."

 "What are you talking about? I'm not a Slayer, I'm no good to you," Oz argued, but worried that his argument was weak.

 "No, you're not a Slayer, but you're a werewolf which is just as good in this case. 'A pure, powerful, blood sacrifice' – there is more than one option," Trogar explained.

 Oz could feel the blood leave his face as he considered the implications of what Trogar said. "More than one option, and he knows I'm a werewolf. This doesn't bode well for my future really," he thought to himself miserably.

 "But I'm part demon aren't I? The wolf inside me is a monster. Doesn't that make me impure?" Oz reasoned, sounding hopeful.

 Trogar merely shrugged, uncaring, "Your idea of pure is far too narrow, too human. You have a soul, you feel compassion, love, and all those other disgusting emotions, this is all that is needed to be considered pure – you easily fit the role."

 "So, I'm your sacrifice," Oz stated, taking in a shaky breath, trying to compose himself. "Bummer."

 Trogar gave him a withering look, "Aren't you going to beg for your life? Offer me a better way out? Threaten me at least?"

 "I don't see that doing much good," Oz replied, his voice sounding calm at least as his hands gripped the sides of the cage and he steadied himself.

 "I don't know whether to be annoyed or impressed. Either way, you'll be dead soon and my master will rise. You're very lucky to have such a good seat for such a grand event you know. In fact we really must start preparations." As Trogar said this three men in black cloaks entered the room all silent and clearly obedient. The shapeshifter merely waved his hand in Oz's direction and spoke to his first and obviously preferred follower.

 "Malok, see that he is prepared for the ceremony. I have matters to attend to."

 The man, Malok, bowed reverently at his command, as did the others. Oz watched as Trogar nonchalantly walked into the hall then the three men approached his cage and unlocked it. The musician peered into the hallway as far as he could see and didn't spot Trogar's shadow. The demon may have left for the time being. He knew the odds were against him but as Oz saw the cage door open he decided he had to take every opportunity of escape that was given to him. 

 He pushed back to the far wall of the cage and pretended to cower as the demon's lackies came toward him. 

 "Never thought I'd wish it was a full moon," he thought to himself as he took stock of how much stronger than him these men probably were.

After Malok entered the small confine and then approached him, Oz shrunk back against the wall and lowered his head, waiting until the man's feet were in his direct vision, then he made his move. Lashing out Oz managed to surprise the man and struck Malok hard across the jaw, and then tried not to cry out as his crushed wrist took more punishment. The man fell but was not knocked out. Oz had little skill in fighting but he was desperate and as the other two tried to enter the cage simultaneously to stop him he charged at the unorganized duo and tackled them. The one on his left fell to the ground while the man on his right was simply knocked off balance. Oz used his small size and lower center of gravity as an advantage and stayed upright afterwards and headed straight for the door leading to what he hoped was freedom.

 Strong fingers suddenly wrapped around his pant leg and he fell to the ground with a yelp. When he landed he turned over and saw man 2 had grabbed him and was now trying to rise. Oz stayed on the ground and kicked the man in the head, effectively sending him back to the ground. 

 Oz struggled to his feet again but made it only two steps further before another body slammed into him. Man 3 was recovered now as well and tackled the werewolf into the wall, knocking the wind from his compact body. Oz gasped for breath and doubled over. The man above him smirked, cocky with victory. He reached out to grab Oz by the shoulders and lead him out of the room but the werewolf recovered quickly and kicked the man hard below the belt.

 He crumpled easily.

 "I'm sorry, but at the same time I'm not. It's an interesting thing really," Oz thought to himself as he assessed his situation. "But not appropriate for the time being."

 Man 2 and 3 were still down but Malok was back on his feet and not looking happy. Oz decided his luck had probably run out and attempted to make a tactical retreat. He ran out of the room and turned right, only a few steps ahead of his pursuer. Oz hoped he was the faster of the two and as he turned a corner he looked behind him to see how close the man was and was unprepared for what happened next.

 Oz fell to the ground in surprise as he hit a body waiting around the corner. He looked up and stared in shock at what was before him. The same spiky hair, the same painted nails, the same features and bowling shirt – everything. 

 He had run into himself, literally. 

 His twin smiled, wicked and unsettling, as he gaped in shocked horror. Trogar was amused as always by the limits of the human mind. Malok who had still been chasing the werewolf appeared around the corner, slightly out of breath. He saw Trogar standing over Oz and smiled. More footsteps could be heard approaching, it was the other two followers that had only now caught up. 

 Oz stood, knowing he was trapped, but unable to take his eyes off the double of himself. Logically, he knew it was only Trogar trying to fool him, distract him, and disturb the hell out of him, and frankly it was working. He took a step back from the demon, his philosophical mind always seemed to delve for the deeper meaning in things and insisted that this was some sort of symbolism, some changing point in his life where he could really and truly see himself, but the teenage part of his mind reminded him that it was just plain creepy.

 As these thoughts assaulted him, he felt strong hands grasp his arms from behind. Oz spun, surprised to see the henchmen now held him in a strong grip; he had forgotten they were there. He struggled for a moment, out of reflex, but the three men quickly squashed any further escape attempts. Two of them held his arms while Malok repaid him for the trouble he had caused. Oz was struck hard across the jaw, then punched several times in the solar plexus. The man attacking him held nothing back and soon Oz gasped for breath. The men dropped him to the ground and he thought it may be over. He was wrong. The two holding him both kicked him hard, one in the back and one in the ribcage. Oz felt something snap, cried out in pain, and wished for Buffy.

 Trogar, still in Oz's form, watched all this, seemingly uncaring. When the men started to become rougher he simply warned them, "Careful not to bleed him too badly. He's small for a werewolf and I'll need all his blood for the ceremony."

 With his words the beating was finished and the angered men reluctantly backed away from their tenderized victim. Oz lay on the ground, struggling for breath and trying not to move. Trogar knelt next to him and laid a hand on his head in a gesture that would almost appear comforting. Then he weaved his fingers into Oz's hair and jerked his head back, forcing the musician to stare into a copy of his own eyes.

 "Escape is not allowed, I had thought that was obvious. In a few hours my master will rise from Hell, and it will be glorious. You should feel honoured that you may even witness it, let alone be the one that raises him. Your ungratefulness insults me so much that …. I may not let you watch." Still smiling, Trogar released Oz, backed away, then swiftly moved closer and kicked the teenager hard in the temple. 

 Oz's world faded to black and the last thing he saw was Trogar's evil smirk. The last thing he felt was the pain from his bruised body and broken bones. The last thing he thought was "I hope Willow will be okay."

TBC

Horrible place to end, I know. I'm actually notorious for this. Sorry. I'm having a lot of fun writing this and I hope you're all enjoying it. I can't find much Oz h/c, all his fics seem to take place after he leaves the show. There's not nearly enough set within the series fics about him. Anyway, more soon and many thanks to my reviewers. In fact, here's my thanks:

CraigJ – Thanks for the review. Hope you can come up with a plot, that's really the hardest part.

MJRosemary – Happy to find another Oz fan. Hope you liked this chapter and it filled your Oz cravings. I'll try to have more soon.

Kathy – Sorry, I don't see myself writing an Oz/Buffy fic in the future. But if I ever do, or find a really good one (I read them sometimes too) I'll let you know.

Angharad – Actually, I didn't know that website. I hadn't done a whole lot of searching for Oz fic yet, except the little I found on ff.net. I figured I'd ask everyone reading first and get way better results then trying to find fics myself. You're right, the fic was hard to find but I got it. Thanks.

The Red Cheese is Wax – Thanks for the review again. I find Oz a really hard character to write so if he does something that seems uncharacteristic can you let me know?

Templa Otmena – I love you! You read everything I write, that's awesome!!!! Thanks for the nice review. I find I write Cordy pretty much the same because between the third season and the first season of Angel (which is all I would write due to Doyle and all) not much time has passed so she's still pretty superficial. I like the length of your reviews, no pressure for a long one. I like Doyle and Oz, but I've never had a thing for Xander. He's cute and he's funny but I've never had an urge to write a fic about him or anything – don't know why.

Silver Mirror – Thanks for the review, hope you'll stick around.

That's everyone! More soon, I hope. Robinyj


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